Piano action



Feb. 20, 195,1 A. P. BROWN 2,542,305

PIANO ACTION Filed Sept. 30, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

IN VEN TOR. .4B/Minier Elf/wlw@ Feb. 20, 1951 A, P, BROWN 2,542,306

v PIANO ACTION Filed Sept. 30, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BYQJQM /z/x Arm/Mfr Patented Feb. 20, 1,951

UNITED STATES PATNT OFFHCE PIANO ACTION Alexander P. Brown, Beechhurst, N. Y.

Application September 30, 1947, Serial No. 776,987

17 Claims.

This invention relates to piano actions.

It is well known in the arts of small vertical pianos that the piano actions are large, deep and much below the level of the manual keys; these are known as underslung actions. It is known that in most of these types it is necessary to have certain levers or connections from the key down to the wippen. These connecting levers are known to have a exibility or a give, which causes an unsatisfactory mushy touch.

Further, the present backstop parts with the extension shank in the butt takes up considerable space. Further, the bridle tape is glued in to the butt with the back stop shank, and it is well known that these leather tipped bridle tapes rapidly deteriorate, and it is very difficult to replace them in the same way as originally applied; consequently, the piano technicians are compelled to carry many kinds of tools, adhesives tacks and tapes for the replacement of the present bridle tapes.

Further, the present actions for upright pianos have a spring for the hammer and one separate spring for the damper lever.

Further, when the present sostenuto pedal is in use, a certain awkward and annoying resistance occurs in the touch by the subsequent keys being played, which is due to the unyielding sostenuto rail or its cord when the sostenuto rail meets edge to edge with the sostenuto lever, or to the unyielding sostenuto lever and its rail contacting portion.

The piano-fortes to which the following invention is applicable though they all belong to the same class may still be of various construction.

The improvements include (l) the provision of the jack regulation screw in an exposed position permitting easy access for regulating it, by placing the abstract, the demountable bridle tape, the bridle wire, and the back check behind the said regulation screw, in which the pivoting of the lower portion of the abstract may be either directly to the jack or directly to the wippen; (2) the provision of a jack spring acting on the rear portion or" the jack and supported by the wippen or its flange; (3) the radius head on the jack, enabling a fuller and solid blow, and step by step movement with a more rapid trip; (4) the demountable bridle tape, with one end engaged on a bridle tape wire which is secured in the hammer butt, and the other end is secured either to the iront part of the back check, or to the lower portion of the abstract; that is, to say, that the other end secured to a component part of the wippen. whereby the combined weight will give faster repetition by the backward pull of the hammer, and besides this form of construction requires smaller space for the action; (5) the back stop unit as part of the hammer butt, instead of separate widely spaced assembled parts of the present hammer butt, and a synchronizing back check; (6) the combination abstract guide and lost motion compensator; (7) this combination supported by a flange secured to the hammer lift rail; (8) the action frame with holes to regulate the height of wippen guide lever and its rail and acting as an adjustment for dierent heights of pianos, still retaining the standard key board height; with this, it will not be necessary to use different sizes of action frames for different heights of pianos; (9) the improved combination sostenuto lever and damper lever using only one regular damper lever spring, this improvement having application to many types of pianos.

The improved compact action of small com- -pass still retains the time tested full length hammer shanks and the full size component parts. The straight pull of the abstract avoids the mushy touch and its new lower pivoting located in back of the jack trip regulation screw, requires less space. rIhe hammer is driven more directly and comes back faster than that of the old type of action. With the set of flanges on the hammer lift rail supporting the activating levers, a variable output of volume of tone is achieved, and a constant touch depth is obtained, and the lost motion is compensated and taken up.

The invention will be more fully described hereinafter, embodiments thereof shown in the drawings, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side View with parts in section showing embodiments of the improvements;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the demountable bridle tape, with its laminated ends;

Fig. 3 is a detail side view of the connection of the jack with wippen, substantially like the parts shown in Fig. l, but somewhat modified in the construction eliminating the abstract and showing a modiiication in the rear jack wippen connecting spring;

Fig. 4 is a side view with parts in section, showing a modified embodiment of the invention disclosed in the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a side View like that of Fig. 3, showing a common pivot for the abstract, jack and wippen, though the abstract may be omitted, and a modied construction of the rear spring; and

Fig. 7 is a View showing the flange at the lower part of the rail.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the various views.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. -1, the known key I of a piano has a capstan screw 2. A lost motion compensating abstract guide lever 3 has a felt lining 3a, and rests upon the capstan screw 2. The curvature of the lever permits a compensating action.v The lever 3 is pivoted at 3b to a flange 4, which is supported by and secured to the hammer rail 5, by screws a, which rail 5 has `a felt layer 5b thereon. The rail 5 is movable upwardly and towards the string 5B by a lift dowel 1 as known, and returns by gravity. To the rail 5, a pivot rod 8 is pivoted at one of its ends, and the other end of the rod 8 is pivoted to a xed action frame 9 having spaced ports or openings 90, any one of which may be selected for the proper piano keyboard height regulation of the rail 5. Only a portion of the action frame 9 is shown as it is well known without the spaced openings. All of these parts are so constructed that their locationis' at the rear or back of a jack trip regulation screw 28a and button 28.

The jack 24 has a felt inlay or blocking felt 25, to soften the thrust of the jack against the wippen, and has a knuckle portion 21 to impinge against the felt covered regulating button 28 or ascre'w 28a, supported on a rail 28h. To the jack 24 at its lower rear portion at 26 is movably inserted one end of a rear jack spring 3l, which is preferably bent up to form a convolution, and has its other end securedL to the wippen 32. The wippen 32 is pivotally supported at 34a to a wippen flange 34 secured by screws 34D to an action rail 31. The wippen 32 supports a spoon 33. A spring 35 preferably of the coiled type is disposed between the wippen 32 and a touch spring regulating rail 3S held movably by a screw 36a'on the rail 31.

The butt I2 is pivotally connected at 68 to a hammer butt flange 42 secured by screws 42a to the rail 31. The lower part of the butt I2 is curved and to it, the upper end of the jack 24 abuts. A. full motion butting or radius jack head 23 extends laterally of the upper end of the jack. The upper end of the jack 24 and the lateral extension or radius jack head 23 serves to press the butt upwardly and is released from the butt when the jack knuckle 21 abuts against the trip regulation button 28.` A buckskin I2a with a cushioning felt I2b softens the pressure of the jack. A felt I2c limits the movement of the jack, so that the abutting end of the jack with its radius extension ts directly under the curved-portion returns the jack 24, when the pressure on Vthe key I has been released as known.

A spring 56, preferably coiled at 36a, has one end engaged with the rear part of the butt I2 at port 63, being controlled by the spring tension regulating screw I3, and its other end engaged with at the port 44 of the sostenuto lever 45, having also a spring tension regulating screw i3d. The lever 45 is pivoted at 62 to the ilange portion 39a of the .damper lever 39 and extends upwardly to form the sostenuto lever engaging head 45, and one portion extends downwardly to engage the sostenuto lever rest felt 43 inlayed on the damper lever 39. This damper lever 33 is pivoted at 61 to a ange 4I secured by screws 4I a to the rail 31, and extends downwardly and Ais provided with a felt inlay 49, adapted to be engaged by the spoon 33, above which a damper lifting rod 38 is disposed. The damper lever 39 supports a wire 59, which supports the damper block 58 and felt 58a, which dampens the string 50 as known.

Supported on the frame 9 and pivoted at 55 is a sostenuto rail actuating lever 53, one end 59 of which is accommodated to a dowel 51 suitably operated by a foot pedal in the known manner and not shown. The other end of the lever 53 has a felt washer 5I disposed between it and the screw head 52, and below that end of the lever, and between it and block 48, is a spring 50. A pivot rod 54 engages one of the ports 99 of the frame and is connected with the block 4B on a rail 41 having a re-inforcing part 48a and a bumper felt 49 against which the damper wire 59 strikes. The sostenuto rail 41 extends downwardly to cooperate with the sostenuto lever engaging head 45. Y

In the sectional view, Fig. 3, is shown the cutout 32a in the wippen 32 to provide movement space for the lower part of the `iack 24 which is curved as shown at 24a, a similar construction being used in Fig. l. The modification shown in Fig. 3 is in the attachment of the spring and in the absence of the abstract 29, lever 3 and ilange 4, and the provision of the felt 3a when actuated by a key in the well known manner. The end of the rear jack spring 3l which engages the wippen 32 directly in Fig. l, now is secured in the flange 34 supporting the wippen 32;

In Fig. 4, the modication in respect to Fig. 1 consists in this: The damper bumper rail 48h with its felt layer 49 is xed to the frame 9, by a screw 48e. The demountable bridle tape I5 has its lower end secured to the pin head I9 located on the lower end of the abstract 2S by a fastening pin I9. The butt I2 has a wire 2Ia bent downwardly to form a back stop portion Ma to abut against the felt 29h of the back check head 29a, now part of the jack 24. The rear jack spring 3i has one end now secured to the lower end of the wippen supporting flange 34. The spring 35a has one end now secured at 64 to the damper lever 39, provided with a spring channel 65. At the lower end of the damper lever 39, the sostenuto lever 45 is pivoted at 62, and is adapted to be pressed against the felt 43, which is secured to the damper lever 39, and extends downwardly to form the sostenuto engaging head 45. 'I'he sostenuto pedal operating rail 41 is supported on a sostenuto safety bumper spring 55, on the pedal operated dowel 51. The rail 41 is supported by a sostenuto pivoting rod 54, pivoted at 54h to a flange 34. A spoon bumper felt 43 is applied to the damper lever 39 to cooperate with the damper lifting rod 38 and damper spoon 33.

In Fig. 6, the modication consists in having the jack 24 and the lower end of the abstract 29 pivoted to the wippen 32 at 6I, and the rear jack spring 3| extends from the rear end of the wippen 32, having its extreme end secured as at 3| a to the lower end of the wippen 32 extending movably into the rear jack spring port 26 of the jack` 24.

atrasos abstract 295 TheloWer-fsideof thelWippen-,BZ has afelt 3ato coact with'. the. keys l, @when-the-abf. stract 29, lever 3 and .llange..4.of..Figs..-.5 andf are omitted...

In the improvedvconstructions, the springogsin Fig. 1 is caused to periormthreeor less important distinctpresswe functions,` one ,pressure to bear a very,v light pressureon the sostenutdlever 451,-.at l

spring port 44 to hold the sostenutolever #i5 yield-J ingly inits motion and `in its position. Another f unction is to indirectly bear itsfull .strength up.-4 on thedamper lever 39, which eXerts-.thelreduired pressurethroughfelt 58aagainstthe rnote strings 60 to stop the string vibration.;.Anotheriiumotion is. the medium .regulatable. .pressure exerted ..on the hammer. l-through the. butt 1.2,..the.spr-.i'ngili` contacting the butt springport 63iandis.regulatable by screw I3.. u j .l .This spring action principlefis adaptable to .any modelpianov action. .Whenever it .isdesiredtto sustainthe .tone of any. .given Vnumbers .of..keys. the performer strikesfthe piano'A keys.. Liand immediately followsby depressing thesostenutoor. center. pedal, not shown, which activates the sostenuto rail 51. This rail 41 engages and holds...the sostenuto lever tip 46, and. the .damper ielt'a away from the note strin'gi), as long as the pedal is held down by the performers foot; during this interval other notes maybe played to the performers desire or content. The sostenuto lever tip 46 yieldingly contacts with the sostenuto rail 41 Without the feel of that objectionable resistance or sluggish feeling in the keys as in the presentvsostenuto piano' touch. AThisfi-'esistance-v is avoided because of the very light-spring pressure upon the sostenuto lever 45 through the spring 66 in the port 44 and in thearrangement shown in Fig. 4. The sostenuto lever tip 46 yields against the sostenuto rail 41, thus the performer .will have a smooth, even, satisfactory touch in ythe manual keys I. Y...

It will be noted that the vertically disposed damper lever adjacent the vertical strings forms one lateral boundary member of the improved action. The abstract forms the opposed lateral boundary member. lThe wippen forms thelower boundary member. Centrally disposed lbetween the boundary members, is the jack, butt, hammer and back check.' The jack tripping regulation button is exterior of this grouping and laterally exterior tothe abstract, that is, tothe entire action. This compact small spaced assembly is made possible by pivoting the abstract direct to the jack or direct to .the wippen; by providing the jack with a rear spring engaging portion into which a curved spring `(in distinction to coiled springs) fits to operate the jack; and by the springs for the butt and damper lever.

As stated the abstract guide 3 supports the abstract 29, and. the Curbed surface 3a acts as a lost motion compensating lever. The distance from pivot 29a to pivot 35 is xed, but by shifting the contact point between the surface 3a and the capstan screw 2, the leverage between said contact point and the pivot 29a is changed to the distance of the hammer from the string, thus maintaining a constant touch depth between the key and the touch punching or bumper (not shown in the drawings) as these parts are known. Thus, the part 3, has the functions of an abstract guide, a lost motion compensator, and a constant touch depth governor, combined in one structure. With a constant input of energy upon..the'fkey,.fa variable output. .of tone. ls obtained by shifting the flanged-.hammer rail .to its desired .position, .while lost. motion', abstract guiding, and constant touch depth is obtained in every position of the hammerrail.

Certainvsubject matter .is being claimed in a divisional application led .June 2, 1949,.under Serial No. 96,793. I'wish it 'to' .be understood that Ido `not desire to be limitedftofthe exact details ofY construction shown and described, for obviousy .modications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Icaim; l.. In a piano action, the combination oaplu.-

ra'lity of springfpressed. damperleversVa sostenuto railfmeansfor actuating. said railto soste nuto position. a pivoted. sostenutoV lever on each of Vsaid damper levers, said rail when inisostenuto position holding certain of said damper levers for sostenuto, said damper levers not held in sostenuto having their sostenuto levers yielding on their pivots-against said rail. Y

2.V In a piano action, the combination oi a nprive oted damper lever, a sostenuto rail, a sostenuto lever pivotally supported on said damper lever, for engaging said rail, a pivcted hammer butt, and a spring having one end in the hammer butt and its other endin the said sostenuto lever, for controlling the butt, sostenuto lever and damper lever movements, said springhaving three different pressureaone very light regulatable pressure for the sostenuto lever, the full pressure on the damper lever, and a medium regulatable pressure on the hammer butt. Y -3. Ina piano action for. a piano string", a damper lever having a string damper supported theren by, and operated by a spoon on a wippen, the combination of a pivoted yieldable sostenuto lever on the damper lever, acteduponby said spoon, a spring supported by said damper lever and acting upon the damper lever, a sostenuto rail for engaging said sostenuto lever, and means for actuating said rail to hold the desired damper levei in sostenuto, other damper levers moving their vy sostenuto levers yieldingly against said rail and against the action of the spoon and thespring.

. 4. In a piano actiona damper lever, a sostenuto lever pivoted to thedamper lever, a damper spoon, and a spring for. the damper lever acting in the same vdirection assaid spoon, said sostenuto lever beingfree 4to yieldingly ac t ,on its pivot Vwith an indirect Vbearing but without direct contact with the` said spring, and a sostenuto railto engage the said sostenuto lever.

5,..In a. piano action for. a piano string, a damper lever having a string damper supported thereby, and operated by a spoon on a wippen, the combination oa yielding pivoted sostenuto lever supported by said damperlever, a damper spring acting upon the sostenuto lever for yieldingly holding said lever in position, a sostenuto rail for engaging said lever, and means for actuating said rail, whereby the rail engaging the lever prevents the string damper from dampening the strings enabling a continued vibration while the foot pedal controlled sostenuto rail is kept in action, a safety spring for yieldingly acting on the sostenuto rail to prevent the damage of the sostenuto lever when colliding tip to tip with the said sostenuto rail.

6. In a piano action, a piano key capstan screw, a compensating guide lever provided with a curved and felted surface portion slidable on said capstan screw, an abstract pvoted to the guide lever, a jack activated through the abstract, and

a butt activated by the jack, a hammer shift rail, a flange on said rail pivoted to said guide lever to support the same, the movement of the hammer shift rail sliding the curved surface portion of the guide lever on the piano key capstan screw, guidingly activating said abstract and compensating lost motion between the jack and the butt, thus providing a constant touch depth of the keys.

7. The structure of claim 6, and a rear jack spring, a wippen, a knuckle on the jack extending laterally beyond the wippen, and a jack trip regulating screw button disposed above the knuckle and engageable by the knuckle of the jack for tripping the jack, said abstract and jack being within the regulating screw button, and said abstract being intermediate the regulating screw button and the jack, said jack trip regulating button suddenly tripping the jack after the jack has operated the butt and its hammer before touching the strings.

8. The structure of claim 6, in which said jack is pivoted to the wippen, and said abstract is pivoted to said jack.

9. The structure of claim 6, in which said jack is pivoted to the wippen, and said abstract is pivoted to said wippen.

10. The structure of claim 6, in which said jack is pivoted directly to said abstract, and said wippen is pivoted directly to the jack.

11. In a piano action having a key, a hammer shift rail, an abstract, a jack activated by the lower end of the abstract, and a butt activated by the jack, the combination of a compensating guide lever provided` with a curved surface at one end forming a contact with the key, a connection at the other end for supporting it on said hammer shift rail, and a connection with the upper end of the abstract, the movement of the hammer shift rail shifting said contact point of said Curved portion on the key and varying the leverage action of the guide lever, whereby lost motion between the jack and the butt is taken up, and whereby a constant touch depth of the keys is retained regardless of any position of the shift rail.

12. The structure of claim 11 having a jack regulation screw with a button, said abstract and jack being between the hammer shift rail and the regulating screw button, and said abstract being between the regulation screw button and the jack.

13. The structure of claim 11, having a wippen, the end of said abstract being connected with said wippen, the lower end of said jack being connected with said wippen, said abstract connection with said wippen being above said jack connection with said wippen, said abstract providing a direct straight line action between said guide lever and said wippen.

14. The structure of claim 11, said jack pivoted to the wippen, and having one part extending to the hammer butt, and another part extending beyond the wippen, a back check wire supported on the wippen above the jack pivot, a one piece shankless back stop on the hammer butt forming a unit therewith, adapted to be engaged by the back check, said abstract connected with the wippen above the jack, pivot, and a jack regulation screw with a button, said abstract and back check wire being between said button and the jack, said extending part of the jack engaging the button to trip the jack..

15. The structure of claim l1, said jack pivoted to the wippen, and having one part extending to the hammer butt, and another part extending beyond the wippen, a back check wire supported on the wippen above the jack pivot, a one piece shankless back stop on the hammer butt forming a unit therewith, adapted to be engaged by the back check, a bridle tape supporting wire on said butt, a bridle tape having one end connected with said last 'named wire, and with the back check, said abstract being connected with the wippen above the jack pivot, and a regulation screw with a button, said abstract and back check wire being between said button and the jack, said extending part of the jack engaging the button to trip the jack.

16. In a piano action having a hammer and means for actuating it, the combination of a hammer shift rail, a key, and a lever having one end pivoted to said rail and the other end activated by said key, said lever being connected with said hammer actuating means, for activating the same by the striking of the key in any position of the shift rail.

17. In a piano action, the combination of a pivoted damper lever, a pivoted hammer butt, and a knee action spring having a joint portion and two legs extending from the joint portion, one leg contacting the hammer butt above its pivot and the other leg contacting the damper lever above its pivot for controlling the butt and damp; er lever, the joint portion of the spring oating without contact with the butt or damper lever,

ALEXANDER P. BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 21,567 Betz Sept. 17, 1940 1,143,936 Betz June 22, 1915 1,353,645 George Sept. 21, 1920 1,703,298 Chute Feb. 26, 1929 2,166,396 Dasenbrook July 18, 1939 2,273,789 Prevost Feb. 17, 1942 2,425,989 Brown Aug. 19, 1947 

